Machu Picchu

Toblerone1978

Hi all. I’m a novice to this forum, but I would appreciate any assistance on my query.

There’s a few of us thinking of going on a trekking holiday in Peru in 2012 for a fortnight, the highlight would be to take in the Machu Picchu. Giving that we are a trekking club, we definitely want to do a reasonable amount of trekking, but we also like our beer and we won’t be oblivious to the night life either!

Any suggestions of operators/guides? I don’t mind if the recommendation for operators are Peru based, Irish based or elsewhere (once they can speak English!). Neither does it bother me if we use separate operators on separate parts of the trip.

Or are they needed? I presume to get a pass to the Machu Picchu, we are best to go with an operator.

If we’re going for two weeks, I don’t want the only trekking we’ll be doing to be three days around Machu Picchu – I’m sure they’re other interesting places to see there too!!

Any help would be appreciated.

Handy11

Toblerone1978 wrote: »

Hi all. I’m a novice to this forum, but I would appreciate any assistance on my query.

There’s a few of us thinking of going on a trekking holiday in Peru in 2012 for a fortnight, the highlight would be to take in the Machu Picchu. Giving that we are a trekking club, we definitely want to do a reasonable amount of trekking, but we also like our beer and we won’t be oblivious to the night life either!

Any suggestions of operators/guides? I don’t mind if the recommendation for operators are Peru based, Irish based or elsewhere (once they can speak English!). Neither does it bother me if we use separate operators on separate parts of the trip.

Or are they needed? I presume to get a pass to the Machu Picchu, we are best to go with an operator.

If we’re going for two weeks, I don’t want the only trekking we’ll be doing to be three days around Machu Picchu – I’m sure they’re other interesting places to see there too!!

Any help would be appreciated.

Book the Inca trail with LlamaPath. They were head and shoulders above the other companies I saw in how they treated their porters. The food and tents are good.

My recommendation - if you're flying to Lima, leave it straight away (nothing there, really) and get to Arequipa. From there you can hike in Colca Canyon for a couple of days, and it starts you off with a bit of altitude acclimatisation. Then up to Cuzco. Stay there for 4-5 days minimum before doing the Inca Trail (or the Llares trek or whatever else you like). Lots of day trips and short hikes around Cuzco to keep the most avid of hikers happy.

Trippie

Another option is La Ciudad Perdida in Colombia. I did it during the summer and while the ruins are not as spectacular as Machu Picchu i preferred the trek itself. It can be done in anything from 3 to 6 days depending on your abilities. Its challenging in 3 days but pretty easy in 6.


Thats the unofficial recommendation out of the way. I work for a tourism company in Colombia and can send you on some detailed stuff if you want, there is everything here from the treks, to party towns to caribbean beaches and all very accessible and cheap too.

Toblerone1978

Thanks lads for your help. Handy11, I'll definitely will look them up.

Trippie, unfortunately it will be Peru if it's South America.

bungaro79

we went with peru treks (www.perutreks.com) and like handy11 was on about it was because they treated their guides well and give money back to the community. you'd be appalled at the cut cost operations out there, i remember having to give a porter in another company some food coz the poor fella was starving.

you can see here, www.andeantravelweb.com/peru/treks/inca_trail_trek_permit_availability.html, about the availability of passes for the trek. don't leave it too late! theres a longer trek too to macchu pichu so if ye're into trekking you might want to check that out. lots to do around the area. we also did a trip to the amazon and from cusco you can also head and check out the nazca lines.

not sure if you've trekked in altitude before but if not then you'll need a few days to acclimatise to the altitude in the andes. think peru treks wanted us in cusco at least 3 days before we left

Toblerone1978

bungaro79 wrote: »

not sure if you've trekked in altitude before but if not then you'll need a few days to acclimatise to the altitude in the andes. think peru treks wanted us in cusco at least 3 days before we left

Thanks bungaro. Just waiting to hear what the group wants to do (4 day/3 night trip, 8 day/7 night trip, Amazon jungle etc) but I'll definitely want to hang out in Cuzco for a few days beforehand.

I don't have any experience in clmbing at that altitude, but is there anything I can't or shouldn't do while in Cuzco e.g. I'm thinking of going mountain biking while there, have a (nice) few beers etc (not at the same time!!).

Lumbo

If you want to party when your in Cusco you should stay in Loki (Irish owned hostel) or The Wild Rover (Irish owned hostel). Both have comfortable beds, hot showers (which can be difficult to find in Peru) and the party's there are great craic.

I done Machu Pichu in January, got engaged up there . I'd done some treks before we got to South America but I don't think it's necessary to do training but it will help. We done a 4 day Jungle Trek from Cusco. Downhill Mountain Biking (about 80k) and White water rafting, the next 3 days we averaged about 20k walk each day, stayed in basic accommodation and got breakfast lunch and dinner each day. Final day we got up at 3 in the morning the walk from Agua Caliente up to Machu Pichu to get a guided tour (bring a lunch, the restaurant up their is one of the most expensive in Peru). We then got a train and bus back to Cusco that evening. Cost around $200 each.

bungaro79

if you are thinking about doing the amazon too we went with peru discovery and they offer all kinds of trips you might be interested in, pretty sure they do a great mountain biking trip. but its not something you'd want to do with a hangover though, you should see the drops off the side of the road!!!

lots to do around the place, i always felt pretty safe there and once used to the altitude then theres loads to do. you should also try and go to the places out side the main plaza for grub, a way cheaper and alot nice imo!

fichillie

Hi guys!
Im hoping to do a trip with a similar itinerary to http://www.gadventures.com/trips/inca-empire/PIML/2012/
Does anyone have any complanies they could recommend who do something similar. I'll be travelling alone, so would prefer to do a group tour, as opposed to organising it, and doing it by myself.

solerina

fichillie wrote: »

Hi guys!
Im hoping to do a trip with a similar itinerary to http://www.gadventures.com/trips/inca-empire/PIML/2012/
Does anyone have any complanies they could recommend who do something similar. I'll be travelling alone, so would prefer to do a group tour, as opposed to organising it, and doing it by myself.

The company you have linked here are brilliant (used to be called Gap adventures).. I did Macchu Picchu with them 2 years ago and loved every minute, I would recommend them highly, I did the trip called peru panorama, it was worth every penny and more, super guides, super organisation etc !!!! The group I was with were brilliant too, we are all still in contact regularly on facebook and meet up every so often (some in Ireland, some in London).